Master of molecular gastronomy: What happened when Heston Blumenthal decided to tackle the microwave oven?

He claims its sensors scan the food and alter cooking times accordingly, delivering perfection every time.

His oven is like other microwaves in that the food heats up from the inside while the oven stays cool.

But Heston points out: ‘Foods differ enormously in their water content. Vegetables, for example, are made up of between 85 and 95 per cent water. Meats are about 70 per cent, butter is less than 20, while most cooking chocolate is only 3 per cent water.’

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Heston’s microwave — which has just seven buttons and an LCD panel — uses sensors to detect the moisture in each dish, then monitors humidity as it cooks, testing temperature constantly and altering the cycle and heat according to how each dish is reacting.

So does it live up to the hype? AMANDA CABLE puts it through its paces.

Heston claims the microwaves sensors scan the food and alter cooking times accordingly, delivering perfection every time

BAKED BEANS

COOKING TIME: Three minutes for 120g, at a low temperature.

EASE: Really simple. I tell the microwave I’m cooking baked beans, and it sets a low temperature and chooses the cooking time. All I do is press start.

TASTE: I can cook dishes for exquisite dinner parties in my Aga — but I’ve always failed to properly heat baked beans in a microwave. They either dry out or explode. Apparently, this is because they’re a tricky combination of high-water-content sauce and lower-water-content bean.I open the door and find a bowl of heated beans that are perfectly, evenly cooked. No coagulation, no split beans and best of all, no exploding baked bean sauce all over the microwave.

SCORE: 5/5

The cooking process required by Heston's microwave is a bit too much of a faff, explains Amanda Cable

PORRIDGE

COOKING TIME: Four minutes for 50g, at a high then low temperature.

EASE: For one portion I weigh the oats, measure 250ml of water (one-part-oats to five-parts-water) and place in a microwave-safe dish with a kitchen towel over it. I select ‘cook oats’, and press start. It cooks for two minutes then, halfway through, it beeps and a message flashes telling me to ‘stir/turn food’. I stir away, then press start again and wait until it finishes, before leaving to stand for three minutes before serving.

TASTE: My results are OK, but I haven’t been exact enough with my measuring — the porridge is a little dry. It’s my mistake, but the whole process is a bit of a faff when compared to my usual method of just adding boiling water to oats and stirring on a hob.

SCORE: 2/5

CHICKEN DRUMSTICKS

COOKING TIME: Six minutes, 40 seconds for 250g, at a medium temperature.

EASE: Heston advises me to cook chicken in a shallow, round, microwave-safe dish, with larger and thicker pieces around the outside. I select chicken, plug in the weight and press start. Halfway through, the oven beeps and the ‘stir/turn food’ light comes on. I turn the chicken, put the microwave-safe plastic wrap back on it, and press start again.

TASTE: Any attempt I’ve ever made to cook meat in a microwave before has always ended badly. The cooking time of chicken in Heston’s microwave is calculated to allow for the fact that meat continues to cook for up to five minutes after it comes out of the microwave.

And, hey presto! A dish full of moist and succulent chicken pieces — which could have come from my Aga — emerges from the microwave.

SCORE: 4/5

Heston's microwave delivered a jacket potato that Amanda said was the best she ever had

JACKET POTATOES

COOKING TIME: Four minutes, ten seconds for 250g, at high temperature.

EASE: Pop the potato in the microwave and select ‘cook’, ‘potato’ and the weight. Even I can’t muck this up!

TASTE: When the buzzer goes, I wrench the door open with Heston-style enthusiasm and find a soft-skinned potato inside.

Is this a fail from Heston?

I plunge in a fork expecting to be disappointed — and find perfect, fluffy white flesh. I’ve never ever tasted a jacket potato so good. The flesh inside is so meltingly delicious I can overlook the fact the skin isn’t crunchy.

SCORE: 5/5

SOFTENING BUTTER

COOKING TIME: 45 seconds for 100g, at a low temperature.

EASE: For me, softening butter in a microwave has always ended up with a lake of butter. But this is easy. I put the butter in whole, press the ‘soften butter’ button in the door on the shortcuts panel, turn the dial to select weight, and press start.

TASTE: Perfectly soft, spreadable butter in less than a minute. I’ve avoided a meltdown!

SCORE: 5/5

FISH

DID YOU KNOW?

The first microwave oven was launched in 1947 - it was the size of a fridge and weighed nearly 750lb

EASE: I arrange white fish fillets in a shallow dish, fold over the thin fish tails as per Heston’s instructions (to stop them becoming dry) and cover with microwave-safe wrap.

Halfway through cooking, the oven tells me to turn the fish. It’s a little fiddly, but I pop it back in the oven. Once cooked, a message on the screen tells me to leave the fish to stand for five minutes, as it continues to cook outside the oven.

TASTE: Cooking fish in a microwave usually ends with a curled-up fillet or an unappealing lump of disintegrated fish. This time, one fillet tail has flipped out, and cooked dry as a result. But on the main fillets, the flesh flakes off in delicious pieces. My first happy fishy ending since I saw Finding Nemo.

SCORE: 4/5

MINCE

EASE: I put the mince into a microwave-safe container, cover with kitchen towel and select ‘cook’ and ‘meat’, plugging in the weight. Halfway through, the ‘stir/turn food’ button flashes and beeps, and I have to stir it to break up the lumps, before finishing cooking.

TASTE: Usually, my microwave transforms expensive mince into grey goo. But no — this is broken up, moist and tasty. A first for me!

SCORE: 5/5

Cooking broccoli in the microwave is a winner - as long as you follow Heston's rules

BROCCOLI

COOKING TIME: Three minutes for 250g, at high temperature.

EASE: I cut it into florets, add a tablespoon of water per 100g, cover with kitchen towel, select ‘cook’, ‘soft vegetable’, the weight and hit start. Halfway through, the ‘stir/turn food’ alarm buzzes, and I give it a stir. Easier than a saucepan boiling over.